album
Annett Louisan: 'I don’t need to go the fake platinum blonde bombshell route anymore'
The breathy German chanson singer hasn’t only changed hair colour over the years - she seems to have done a bit of growing up as well. We catch the 31-year-old entertaining the Franco-German relations ambassador and performing live in Paris for the first time
album, germany, paris, brunch, interview, leonid kuchma, language
Music in February: The Rumour Said Fire, Corinne Bailey Rae and Jaga Jazzist
A new British neo-soul album, an old favourite from Denmark's Simon and Garfunkel and five top tracks spanning London via Brooklyn and Oslo - a selection of Europe's music tips of the month
Music in January: Blur, Arsov and Loredana Groza
Electro tickles through folk Slovenian covers to Romanian local heroines, whilst the mighty Britpop band are featured in a new documentary in the UK, premiered last night: your music tips of the month
album, romania, slovenia, britpop, culture, music, culture calendar
L.U.C: 'Poland is not just vodka and pretty girl exports'
Rather than rapping on his new album, producer Lukasz Rostkowski, 29, mixes in historical soundtracks, including the voice of ex-Polish president Lech Walesa. The jazz, trip hop and electro musician explains how a sometimes pessimist view of his country's past has inspired him in his musical projects, for which he has just picked up a 2009 'Passport award' from the journalists at Polityka
album, warsaw, identity, reunification, brunch, poland, history
Staff Benda Bilili, voice of the voiceless in Congo
‘We're all handicapped people, ain't we?’ runs their myspace byline. After more than a month of touring through Europe, this group of paraplegic street musicians from Kinshasa left crowds elated and bewildered almost a year after releasing their debut album Très Très Fort, courtesy of Belgian producer Vincent Kenis of Congotronics fame. A French documentary on the group has been underway for seven years
album, documentary, disable people, record, discrimination, war, label
Fever Ray, Peter Bjorn and John: Swedish music right now
Famed in the nineties as the capital of pop, Scandinavia doesn’t seem to have exhausted its creative vein just yet. With a legacy of pop artists such as Aqua and Ace of Base, the northern European music scene is opening up to new sounds, experimenting with new technology and ambient tones, whilst never forgetting its musical past
album, cd, party, scandinavia, leonid kuchma, sweden, music
‘If I had to choose between sex and performing live with The Whitest Boy Alive...’
One day it was just computers. The next day, god brought instruments. Over the past decade, the Berlin-based band’s polyphonic electronic sound has translated into pure deprogrammed happiness for live dance fans across Europe. We hear the boys from Bergen, Berlin and Toruń out
Music in December: Sally Shapiro, Empire of The Sun and Múm
Featuring: album of the month from Polish rock-turned-pop star Agnieszka Chylinska, favourite disc of the month from an Australian award-winning electronica duo and a tracklist from Paris to keep you warm this winter
Cornershop: 'musicians might as well hand their credit cards over to the man on the street'
Northern English indie band Cornershop give us a talking to about Swiss minarets, metal music and releasing their comeback album - it's been seven years! - cheaply via their website
album, switzerland, indie rock, religion, best of cafebabel.com, referendum, sport
Coeur de Pirate: 'when I grow up I will be like Mathieu Chedid!'
Beatrice Martin, 19, was discovered on Myspace in Quebec and is attempting to conquer France. We meet at Cébazat in the Puy-de-Dome region for the opening of the Sémaphore en Chanson festival
Music in November: Matias Aguayo, Rodamaal feat Claudia Franco
Music wanderings take us into left-field hedonism this month via the German dance scene with its Spanish house vocals amongst others. Album and playlist of the month as well as a featured favourite album classic
Electronic music duo Fuck Buttons: is this music?
From Worcester via Bristol to the world, schoolfriends Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power are fiddling with some old machines across a table in order to make some music. The universal sound goes by ‘drone, pop, noise’
album, noise, paris, brunch, fuck buttons, concert, technology
Micachu and the Shapes, Emilie Simon: your music for October
Trendy London recommends its top 5 city tracks, we denote a French-flavoured album of the month and find out who Pájaro Sunrise is
album, pájaro sunrise, london, indie, france, emilie simon, spain
Ólafur Arnalds, Trail of Dead and Turin: your music for September
We’ve rattled up the format of our monthly music tips for the autumn. Catch our Iceland-flavoured album of the month, the top five tracks in September as voted for by our boys and girls in Turin, and an album tip from a correspondent from our network. This month, we hear from Berlin
album, italy, ólafur arnalds, and you will know us by the trail of dead, iceland, label, cd
Music in March: Killed by 9V Batteries and Extraperlo
Paris-Berlin machine rock, continental breakfast from Barcelona and Austrian pot-washers –spring is blossoming in many ways on the music scene! Café Babel’s music diary for March
album, switzerland, berlin, barcelona, sophie hunger, cd, austria
Music editors pick: Mogwai, Disco Drive and Maria Peszek
Spanish pop, Scottish post-rock, Franco-American bluegrass, Italian punk experimental and Polish sex scandal songs - the editorial team's soundtrack of 2008
album, fuck buttons, best of cafebabel.com, electronic music, culture, pop music, music
Music: Keane, Antwerp Gipsy-Ska Orkestra and Katharina Nuttall
Piano rock from the UK, Balkans from Belgium and Blue Monday in Norway – October’s best music picks kick off a European autumn
album, britpop, belgium, katharina nuttall, antwerp gipsy-ska orkestra, keane, kosovo
The Verve, Mo’Horizons – music in August
Plus: the Budapest beats of Gelka, Mañana - Switzerland’s answer to the Verve and Istanbul electronic rhythms with Zi Punt - monthly music picks
Music in July: Carla Bruni, E-Quad, Ari Koivunen
French First Ladies, Dutch idealists, Italian poets-cum-abrasive rockers and Finnish 'Rock Idols' – it's Europe's monthly music picks
album, e-quad, carla bruni, my own parasite, rock, culture, ari koivunen
Sweden's Lykke Li: heartbreak leads to electro pop
Lykke means 'happy' in Norwegian. Li's debut album has led to a European tour, and she’s hyped as one of 2008’s biggest new stars. But chart positions don’t make the 22-year-old singer happy
album, elektro, brunch, cd, pop, youth novels , leonid kuchma
